A Conservative Senator’s intent to raise funds to take legal action against journalists and politicians addressing interference by the Chinese regime is not supported by Conservative Party leader Pierre Poilievre, according to a media report.
Conservative Senator Victor Oh has been actively organizing against the implementation of a foreign influence registry, which he says is a kind of “disguised Chinese Exclusion Act.”
At an
event in mid-June held at the Montreal Chinese Community United Centre (MCCUC), Oh talked about renting buses to send people to Ottawa on June 24 to protest for the cause.
One of the protest organizers had met in China with an official from the United Front Work Department, which spearheads foreign interference, The Epoch Times
reported on July 2.
As
first reported by The Epoch Times, Sen. Oh also mentioned at the Montreal event his intent to establish a foundation to raise funds to go after journalists or politicians who he perceives are defaming Chinese-Canadians.
“We will provide funding [to counter] the baseless accusation and defamation from politicians,” he said. “We need to take legal actions against those unreasonable journalists, news outlets, and politicians who slander and defame Chinese people. We must stand up against them in various forms.”
Global News
asked Mr. Poilievre and his party if they support Sen. Oh’s idea and his office reportedly said “no.” It also asked whether Mr. Poilievre and the party believe reporters are trying to “smear” Chinese-Canadians and his office said “no,” reported the outlet on July 5. The office reportedly didn’t comment on whether the senator’s role in the caucus was in question.
“Canadians of Chinese origin are some of our most patriotic people. I stand with them against foreign interference and for democracy,” Mr. Poilievre said in an emailed statement to The Epoch Times.
The Epoch Times contacted Sen. Oh’s office for comment but did not receive a reply by publication time.
Foreign Influence Registry
Discussions about implementing a foreign influence registry have often taken place in the context of interference by the Chinese regime, which according to security officials is the largest purveyor.Former Canadian Security Intelligence Service executive Dan Stanton has
called Beijing the “A-Team” and the most sophisticated foreign interference threat. This focus on the Chinese regime has been used by opponents of the registry who say Chinese-Canadians will be arbitrarily and wrongfully targeted.
Sen. Oh and others have made the comparison to the “Chinese Exclusion Act,” or
Chinese Immigration Act of 1923, which barred most Chinese immigrants from entry for 24 years and created a requirement for immigrants and descendants of Chinese origin to register with the government.
Supporters of a registry say it will not target specific countries or people, but rather the activity itself.
Conservative Senator Leo Housakos, who introduced private member’s Bill S-237 to implement a foreign agent registry,
told The Epoch Times in a previous interview that his bill “does not single out any one regime” but rather “provides a tool for Canada to guard against foreign interference and intimidation targeting members of various diaspora communities, no matter from where they originate.”
The Liberal government did not support Mr. Housakos’ bill and, instead, embarked on public consultations during the spring to draft its own legislation. The move came after mounting pressure as a result of national security leaks in the media depicting widespread interference by Beijing in Canada.
Liberals had until then resisted implementing a foreign agent registry, signalling they did not want to offend diaspora communities.
“I think we need to be diligent and thoughtful and inclusive when it comes to bringing all Canadians along in the modernization of the tools and the arsenal that we create for our national security and intelligence communities,” Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino
said in February when asked when a registry would be implemented.
Andrew Chen contributed to this report.
